is a distinguished molecular biologist, whose mastery of the intricacies of biochemistry is unquestioned. As the author of a work (Rosenberg, 1985) intended to bring the revolution in molecular biology into contact with the methodological, epistemological, and metaphysical issues biology raises, I am grateful to have his approbation of my efforts (Stent, 1986: page references below are to that review article, unless otherwise noted). No philosopher can complain when a world-renowned expert in molecular biology praises his work in the terms Stent employs. He not only finds himself in agreement with most of my conclusions, but he repeatedly endorses my reports of his discipline as judicious and largely correct. I have collected a sample of these passages, which any author would gladly see in advertisements for his work: Generally excellent and up-to-date presentations of molecular biological material. (p. 229) [Rosenberg's] presentation of the scientific facts is on the whole very good. (p. 230) [The functional explanation of the difference between DNA and RNA] is a well chosen case. ... By means of another well-chosen examplethe structure and function of hemoglobin -Rosenberg shows both the power and limitations of the molecular biological approach. (pp. 231-3) Rosenberg illustrates the curious inversion of biology by means of a very good summary of recent efforts by molecular biologists to account for the functions of some puzzling features of DNA ... ... There is a novel ... aspect of current attempts to search for the function of highly repetitive DNA to which Rosenberg rightly draws attention. (p. 241) In addition to corroborating my reports from his field, Stent also endorses many of my philosophical conclusions: Rosenberg's treatment of reductionism, just as his treatment of teleology, leads to highly plausible and obvious conclusions, which are generally accepted by biologists. (p. 233) Another very reasonable proposition[:] ... the aim of evolutionary theorists is to extract a recognizably scientific theory from the history of terrestrial life. (p. 233)